Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. Sells 386 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.2% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.